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Saturday, March 4, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: March 5

1955: Johnny Ace had the top R&B song for the fourth week with "Pledging My Love".

1957: Disc jockey Alan Freed was a guest on To Tell the Truth on CBS-TV.1959: Bobby Darin recorded "Dream Lover".1960: Elvis Presley left active duty in the United States Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Presley, who attained the rank of buck sergeant, was given a commendation by Tennessee Senator Carey Estes Kefauver that was entered into the congressional record. (Note: some websites, including the official Graceland website, inaccurately report that Presley was discharged from the Army on this date. He left active service, but he was officially discharged from the Army Reserve on March 23,1964, according to the United States Army Center for Military History, the book 'American Military Heritage' by William W. Hartzog, as well as 'PBS'.)1962: The Marvelettes became the first Motown act to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV.1963: The Beatles recorded "From Me To You" just five days after the song was written. Originally, "Thank You Girl" was slated to be the single but once the group came up with the new song it was released with "Thank You Girl" moving to the "B" side of that 45.1963: Frankie Avalon was a guest on The Jack Benny Program on CBS-TV.1965: The Manish Boys, featuring a young David Bowie, released their first single "I Pity The Fool".1966: SSgt. Barry Sadler had the new #1 Adult song with "The Ballad Of The Green Berets".1966: The Rolling Stones were anxious to get to the top as "19th Nervous Breakdown" moved from #46 to #12.

1966: "The Ballad of the Green Berets" was the new #1 song, sending Nancy Sinatra backwards with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". Lou Christie's former #1 "Lightnin' Strikes" was third with Herman's Hermits jumping from 13 to 4 with "Listen People". The rest of the Top 10: The Mamas and the Papas with their classic "California Dreamin'", Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly", Petula Clark was at #7 with "My Love", Stevie Wonder was down with "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", the 4 Seasons edged up with "Working My Way Back to You" and the Supremes' former #1--"My World Is Empty Without You" was #10.1966: So hot were Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass that they owned the top two albums, and very few in the Rock Era have ever done that. Going Places took over at #1 from Whipped Cream & Other Delights, which was in its 43rd week. Both were ahead of Rubber Soul by the Beatles. The durable Soundtrack for "The Sound of Music" was #4 after 51 weeks while September of My Years from Frank Sinatra remained fifth.1968: Jerry Lee Lewis opened in Catch My Soul, the rock adaptation of Othello in Hollywood, California.1968: Syd Nathan, manager of King Records, which released albums by James Brown and Little Willie John, died of heart disease complicated by pneumonia in Miami Beach, Florida at the age of 63. (Note: several websites report that Nathan died on Miami, Florida. According to the book 'King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records' by Jon Hartley Fox, Nathan died in the coastal resort town of Miami Beach, not the city of Miami.) 1969: The first issue of Creem magazine was published.1969: Dusty Springfield collapsed while taping a show for television.1971: Led Zeppelin started out a new tour at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland and premiered their new song "Stairway To Heaven", as well as "Rock And Roll", "Black Dog" and "Going To California". The tour was a "Thank-you" to fans who supported them from the beginning and concert tickets were the same price as they were from Led Zep's early days in 1968.1973: Michael Jeffrey, former manager of Jimi Hendrix, was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash over Nantes, France.1974: Smokey Robinson was a guest star on Police Story on NBC-TV.1977: Glen Campbell enjoyed a fourth week at #1 on the Adult chart with "Southern Nights".

ABBA was finally conquering the U.S., as it had the rest of the world..

1977: Barbra Streisand registered her third career #1 with "Evergreen" as the Eagles surrendered with "New Kid In Town". Steve Miller was up to #3 with "Fly Like An Eagle", Kenny Nolan's "I Like Dreamin'" was next and Manfred Mann's Earth Band was down to #5 with their former #1. The rest of the Top 10: "Night Moves" from Bob Seger, ABBA had their second Top 10 with "Dancing Queen", Al Stewart jumped into the Top 10 with "Year Of The Cat", newcomer Mary MacGregor fell with "Torn Between Two Lovers" and Barry Manilow remained at #10 with "Weekend In New England".1979: MCA Records, which had recently acquired ABC Records, dissolved their new family member and absorbed ABC into MCA.1982: John Belushi, noted comedian for Saturday Night Live and part of the project the Blues Brothers ("Gimme' Some Lovin'"), died from drugs at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles at age 33.1983: Wham! made their television debut in the United States on the ABC-TV show American Bandstand.1983: "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson was top dog on the R&B chart for the fourth consecutive week.1983: After the Fire had one of the hot new songs as "Der Kommissar" moved from 55 to 31.

The Stray Cats were back with another hit...

1983: Michael Jackson moved to #1 with "Billie Jean", just ahead of the great song "Shame On The Moon" by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. The Stray Cats held steady with "Stray Cat Strut". The only new Top 10 was the Pretenders song "Back On The Chain Gang".

1984: Music Directors at radio stations were beginning to see that this was going to be a great year in music. The Cars released the single "You Might Think".

Gloria Estefan's new song...

1988: George Michael once again had the #1 song with "Father Figure". Rick Astley was up to #2 with "Never Gonna' Give You Up". Patrick Swayze and Wendy Fraser were motionless with "She's Like The Wind" with former Go-Go Belinda Carlisle moving from 8 to 4 with "I Get Weak". The rest of the Top 10: The Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield with "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine were up to #6 in their 16th week with "Can't Stay Away From You", David Lee Roth had a solo hit with "Just Like Paradise", Richard Marx had his third consecutive Top 10 to begin his career with "Endless Summer Nights", Michael Jackson shot up from 17 to 9 with his 27th career solo hit, and his 13th in the last four years ("Man In The Mirror") and Cher moved to #10 with "I Found Someone".1988: Faith by George Michael remained as the album to beat for the sixth week. The Soundtrack to "Dirty Dancing" was next with Kick from INXS third.

"Refugee", one of the gems on 'Tom Petty's Greatest Hits'...

1994: Music Box by Mariah Carey returned to #1 on the Album chart for the third time and a seventh total week at #1. That meant a short stay for Toni Braxton's self-titled debut. Other albums of note: The Counting Crows were at #7 with August and Everything After, Celine Dion was up to #8 with The Colour of My Love, Ace of Base cracked the Top 10 with The Sign and Greatest Hits from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers was #10.1994: Celine Dion remained at #1 for the fourth week with "The Power Of Love". Ace of Base was patiently waiting with "The Sign" while Salt 'N' Pepa and En Vogue combined for #3--"Whatta' Man".2000: Hammer (the album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em) locked himself in a makeshift jail in San Jose, California to protest Proposition 21, California's "Juvenile Crime Initiative", that would give police the power to define groups of four or more people as a "gang".2001: Michael "Smitty" Smith, original drummer of Paul Revere & the Raiders was found dead of natural causes in Kona, Hawai'i.

2001: Paul Stanley of Kiss was given divorce papers by his wife, Pamela Bowen.

2002: Brandy released the album Full Moon.2003: Donatella Versace announced that the company's new clothing line was inspired by Christina Aguilera, who would be their new spokeswoman.2004: Paul McCartney's wealth was estimated at $1.3 billion, more than Elton John, Mick Jagger and Madonna combined. That shouldn't surprise anyone given how good the Beatles were and how good McCartney continued to be with Wings and as a solo artist. What it does do is tell you the separation between the Beatles and everyone else is immense.2005: Brian "Head" Welch, who left Korn, was baptised in the famous Jordan River in Israel.2005: Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys was arrested in Huntington Beach, California for driving under the influence.2006: Corinne Bailey Rae's self-titled album was #1 in the U.K.2007: "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones and the incredible Graceland album by Paul Simon, along with "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins and "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, were chosen by the United States Library of Congress for preservation by the National Recordings Registry, which preserved the works for future generations.2008: Lou Pearlman, who was behind the success of 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, pleaded guilty to a $300m fraud scheme. Pearl admitted in a Florida court that he had been running scams that defrauded investors and major banks for more than 20 years. Pearlman faced up to 25 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.2016: Rihanna and Drake jumped to #1 with "Work", the first Dance song to hit #1 since Sean Paul's "Temperature" in 2006. "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber was second, followed by "Stressed Out" by Twentyone Pilots and "Sorry" by Bieber.

Born This Day:1939: Tommy Tucker ("Hi-Heel Sneakers" from 1964) was born in Springfield, Ohio; died January 22, 1982 in Newark, New Jersey.1946: Murray Head ("Superstar" from 1971 and "One Night In Bangkok" from 1985) was born in London.1948: Eddy Grant ("Electric Avenue" from 1983) was born in Plaisance, Guyana.1950: Paul Serrano, jazz trumpeter and head recording engineer for Delmark Records, who worked with Michael
Jackson, Aretha Franklin and Mick Jagger, died January 15, 2015 in
Burbank, Illinois at the age of 82 after battling Parkinson's Disease
for 25 years. Serrano played trumpet on hundreds of records for Chess,
Brunswick and Mercury Records. (Note: some websites say that Paul
died in Kansas City, Kansas. He died in Burbank, according to the
newspaper 'The Chicago Tribune'.)1952: Alan Clark, keyboardist for Dire Straits, was born in Great Lumley, County Durham, England.1956: Teena Marie ("Lovergirl") was born in Santa Monica, California.1958: Andy Gibb, superstar singer-songwriter, host of Solid Gold on television and the younger brother of the Bee Gees, was born in Manchester, England; died March 10, 1988 of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by a recent viral infection, brought on by years of cocaine use, in Oxford, England.1962: Craig and Charlie Reid of the Proclaimers "I'm Gonna' Be (500 Miles)", were born in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.1970: John Frusciante, elite guitarist, singer-songwriter with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was born in Queens, New York. (Note: some websites report that Frusciante was born in New York City, but according to the book 'Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History' by Bob Gulla, John was born in Queens.)

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About Me

I worked at KFXD-AM & FM in Boise, Idaho for 10 years, serving as Research Director, Music Director and Sports Director among other things. During this time, I researched, organized and produced several music specials including The Top 500 Songs of All-Time and The Top 100 Artists of the Rock Era.
I started Inside The Rock Era in 2011 to counter the sea of misinformation about rock music in general and specifically which songs, albums and artists were the most successful. Since that time, Inside The Rock Era has received over one million page views.
I am the author of two books, The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* and The Top 100 Female Artists of the Rock Era*, both available in softcover and Kindle on Amazon and on this website.